Thirty years of growth in Italy

Three decades have passed since a
far-sighted Austrian engineering company specialising in control electronics
and industrial automation systems, decided to invest in Italy. Over these
thirty years, what began as a dynamic group of just three people has grown to
almost 100 employees, making the Italian market the second largest for B&R in
terms of global revenues.

To rightfully celebrate these first thirty
years in Italy, on 4th October the company organized an event for the technical
press at its offices in Passirana di Rho, on the outskirts of Milan. The main
hosts for the event were marketing & communications manager, Nicoletta
Ghironi, and CEO Luca Galluzzi. After sharing some interesting anecdotes about
B&R's history in Italy, Galluzzi said: "The ability to meet - and in
most cases, anticipate - the industry's needs with state-of-the-art products
and wholly integrated solutions has, without question, played an important role
in growth in Italy. The philosophy of interconnectedness and integration have
also been determining, promoted systematically by B&R and today greatly
relevant to smart manufacturing and Italy's Industry 4.0 Plan. This vision has
always motivated and guided technological development at B&R, giving the
OEMs and the manufacturing industry competitive advantages over their
markets."

"In addition to technology, fuelling the
‘orange colour’ to spread and earn shares on the Italian market year after
year, are our reactivity and in-depth competence in every company role,"
Galluzzi continued. "At every occasion, from the first commercial
encounter, to specialist training, technical support, application development,
after-sales services, market and related communications, for B&R people,
the goal is always to sustain and best support the specific needs of companies.

Making the difference is the B&R team,
who put passion into their work and pay attention to their clients, going above
and beyond a basic professional relationship.All this translates into long-lasting partnerships with clients, who at
every turn know they have someone willing and able to help them, with
competence and the support of a global network of people with experience in
different industrial sectors."

Responding to some questions from the
journalists in attendance, Luca Galluzzi then focused on B&R’s new course,
which, starting 6th July 2017, has become a business unit of the ABB group,
which operates in more than 100 countries and employs approximately 132,000
people. "The owners and founders of the Austrian company did everything in
their power for ABB to keep the B&R brand for a long time to come, and for
nothing to change in our internal organisation," Galluzzi confirmed.
"It has also already been demonstrated that the companies do not have
overlapping products, but, on the contrary, B&R systems fill a gap in ABB’s
range in the field of machinery automation and production process. Lastly, some
synergies have already been developed to be able to provide, for example,
complete systems based on large-size ABB electrical motors (not present in the
B&R portfolio) and B&R components for automation."

The B&R brand therefore remains an undisputed
reference point in the field of industrial automation. The company combines
state-of-the-art technology and advanced engineering to provide companies, in
every industrial sector, with complete solutions for machine and factory
automation, motion control, human-machine interface, and integrated safety
technology.

Collaboration is the key

B&R
could not have become what it is today without having been able to rely on
dynamic and solid Italian companies that are capable of creating machines that
both compete and dominate on the global market, offering impeccable performance
and the ability to create innovative solutions in response to evolving market demands.
Nicoletta Ghironi states: “We are well aware that our success is thanks to
them, and it is for this reason that we wanted to have them alongside us, at
this time of celebration, so that they also have the opportunity to describe
this slice of the history of automation that concerns us. It is therefore a
privilege for us to be able to count on the presence of both individuals and
companies that have experienced these first 30 years of B&R in Italy with
us first hand.”

At the
conference there were no less than nine partners of B&R who told of their
experience with “orange automation” (in alphabetical order). The first to take
the stage was Angelo Accossato, managing director and CEO of Coproget, a
company based in Grugliasco (Turin), and specialized in the design and
construction of special mechanical equipment and automatic plants for cold
sheet processing: stretch/bending plants, profiling lines, cutting/ drilling/
forming lines, traditional/ transfer/ progressive moulds.

While the
next guest, Alessando Mancin, is the owner of Mancin Automazioni, of Piscina
(Turin), a company which has over 20 years of experience in the development of
applied software and electric systems for the mechanical, chemical, nautical,
food and home automation sectors. The company is particularly focused on
research into new technology in order to achieve greater energy savings and eco-friendly
solutions.

Angelo
Nicoletti, country manager Italy of Datalogic Automation, then went on to
explain how, thanks also to its partnership with B&R, it has succeeded in
becoming one of the world market leaders in automatic data acquisition and
process automation. The company, which is located near
Bologna, specialises in the design and production of bar code readers, mobile
computers, recording, measurement and safety sensors, as well as laser vision
and marking systems.

Elettrosystem
was established in 1980 and is involved in the design and development of
technological assembly and testing systems; the company is based in Scurzolengo
(Asti), and is one of the leading industrial automation suppliers. The
spokesman for the company on this occasion was the chief information officer &
controller Daniele Buttaci.

Then it was
the turn of Tiziano Valli, the purchase office manager of Fedegari Autoclavi
(Albuzzano, Pavia), the company is part of an international industrial group,
the strategic objective of which is the supply of machines, systems, components
and services in the field of sterilization, chemical bio-decontamination and
environmental contamination control for the pharmaceutical, biotechnological
and food industries.

But B&R
is not the only company to celebrate its anniversary this year. Moss is also
celebrating 50 years in the business, as explained by its electronic department
manager, Andrea Capiluppi. The company having been founded in 1967 with a clear
corporate goal: the manufacturing of offset and silk-screen printing machines
for the decoration of plastic objects and containers: from which the company
name Moss is derived (Macchine Offset
(&) Silk – Screen). However the company’s production range has expanded
through time and has also extended to hot printing machines, and multi-purpose
machines for tubes and buckets, as well as digital printing machines.

Ocme was
established in 1954 and is a leading company in the design and production of
packaging machinery. The company is based in Parma and has been operating on a
global level for the past sixty years. It provides packaging solutions for the
packing of high quality consumer goods, and its corporate strategy is focused
on ongoing technological innovation. The history of its partnership with
B&R has been told by Gabriele Folli, Ocme communication manager.

Then
followed the intervention of Nicola Bazzoni, automation & electrical
project manager of Sidel, a company based in Parma and a world leader in the
supply of low environmental impact solutions in the field of PET, glass and
aluminium packaging of food and liquids for the food industry such as water,
fizzy drinks, milk, sensitive products, food oils, and alcoholic drinks. Involving
complete lines that go from packaging to blowing, through the entire production
chain, right down to the final pallet loading stage.

Uteco Converting,
with head office in Colognola ai Colli (Verona), is a leading producer of
printing machines focused on a wide range of applications in the flexible
packaging field, as outlined by its electronic development manager, Mauro
Cattaruzza. Uteco provides innovative solutions with a vast range of machines
for flexographic printing and lamination rotogravure; it also produces
high-tech machines with special configurations, and is always focused on
ongoing research and innovation.

Finally,
Giovanni Morandi, of the sales department of WM Wrapping Machinery, described
his company located in Canton Ticino (Switzerland) and which has since 1981
been involved in the design and construction of thermoforming machines, as well
as complete in-line systems with relative extrusion sets since 1992. The highly
qualified technical team of WM is involved in ongoing processing improvement as
well as experiments in order to assure highly advanced technological solutions,
the ultimate goal being that of meeting the specific needs of each individual
user.

This
B&Revent to celebrate its thirty
years of Italian operation, ended with an opportunity for networking, and a
guided tour to the very interesting historic Alfa Romeo

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Press registered at the Milan Court, n.144 at 03/22/2010 Pubblisher: Mario Maggiani.Reproduction prohibited, all rights reserved. The editorial staff disclaims all responsibility regarding the worth of articles and news from various sources.